Cleaning cloth holder head for floor cleaning

ABSTRACT

The new cleaning cloth holder head comprises a triangular-shaped head and handle rotating-attachment. At least one, and preferably all, sides of the body are equipped with a centrally-positioned curved notch or indentation. A cloth positioning and locking part is positioned on the upper surface of the cleaning cloth holder head in proximity to each edge of the triangular-shaped part, whereas a rotating handle coupling device is positioned centrally (preferably) in order to allow the handle attachment to rotate independent of the three axes of the body.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of pending Italian PatentApplication No. PD2009A000118 filed 4 May 2009, the entire teachings ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

The present patent concerns household cleaning appliances and, inparticular, a cleaning cloth holder head for floor cleaning.

Currently, cleaning cloth holder heads for floor cleaning usuallycomprise a flat plastic section with an elastic pad on the underneathand upper attachment to connect the holder to a handle and/or neck.

The cleaning cloth holder head, known as the body for simplicity, isusually flat and comprises flexible parts on the upper section andpreferably close to the corner edges which are used to hold the cleaningcloth in position and made of a flexible plastic item with one or moreslots. The cloth is mounted on the lower flexible surface of the bodywith the cleaning cloth edges folded over the body section and fixed inposition onto the flexible parts mentioned earlier by inserting theborder of the cloth into the fastening slots provided for in theflexible plastic parts.

The attachment on the upper section of the body is normally articulated,thereby allowing the handle to rotate on two orthogonal axes, parallelto the two dimensions of the body and lower surface of the body.

Various difficulties are currently encountered when using cleaning clothholder heads.

The cleaning cloth holder head is generally used crossways, i.e. withthe main orthogonal side in a frontward position in order to obtain thegreatest possible breadth during cleaning operations.

In order to clean restricted spaces, such as between furniture legs,users are required to lower and rotate the handle in order to ensurethat the minor cleaning cloth holder head orthogonal side is in afrontward position.

In order to clean around specific obstructions such as table legs, plantpots or umbrella stands, the standard cleaning cloth holder headsrequire the user to carry out a series of handle movements to reach allthe areas around the obstructions.

A similar situation exists when cleaning along walls and in corners,when the user is required to perform a series of movements in order tocorrectly direct the cleaning cloth head and move it to the area to becleaned. The cleaning cloth holder head comprises a main side that worksclose to, and alongside, the skirting board. When the cleaning clothholder head arrives at a corner section, it is rotated by rotating thehandle in order to clean along the following skirting board by runningthe greatest breadth possible of the cleaning cloth holder head againstthe skirting board to be cleaned.

The subject of this patent application is a new cleaning cloth holderhead/head for floor cleaning.

One specific purpose of the new cleaning cloth holder head is to alterits orientation and guidance in forward motion towards potentialobstacles, walls or skirting boards without the need for the user torotate the handle.

A further purpose of the new cleaning cloth holder head is to allowusers to clean around obstacles of small dimensions without having torotate the handle.

These, together with other purposes, comprise the new cleaning clothholder head—together with its triangular-shaped head and handlerotating-attachment.

The body comprises an upper section that is mainly rigid, united with asofter triangular, equilateral, and isosceles flexible lower section.

At least one, and preferably all, of the sides of the new triangularcleaning cloth holder head are equipped with a centrally-positionedrounded notch or indentation.

A cloth positioning and locking part is positioned on the upper surfaceof the cleaning cloth holder head in proximity to each edge of thetriangular-shaped part.

A rotating handle attachment is connected—preferably in a centralposition—to the upper section of the new cleaning cloth holder headbody.

The attachment is connected to the body of the new cleaning cloth holderhead body with a hinge that allows the handle attachment to rotateirrespective of the body and the three axes.

Generally speaking, the handle attachment comprises a joint between thehandle and an attachment with the body of the new head with at least onehinged part connecting the joint and the attachment.

The handle joint is normally tubular, comprising one end which receivesthe handle grip, either slotted or screwed in, and the opposing endsuitably adapted for the hinged attachment described above.

The attachment for the body of the new cloth holder head is equippedwith a hinged part in order for the attachment to couple with the body.In particular, the connection between the attachment and cleaning headbody allows the part to rotate on an approximate orthogonal axisrelative to the lower cloth support surface without allowing for anydetachment of the body and attachment.

The hinged parts connecting the attachment of the new cloth holder headto the attachment to the handle enables the reciprocal rotation of theattachment and coupling device on two orthogonal axes in a directionopposed to the orthogonal axes for the lower body cleaning cloth supportframe.

These three elements; the body attachment, the handle coupling deviceand hinge parts comprise a universal joint.

The new cleaning cloth holder head can be attached to a standard handleand equipped with a cloth in order to carry out normal floor cleaningoperations.

The specific characteristics of the cleaning cloth holder head for floorcleaning operations will be described in greater detail in the followingdescription with reference to drawings, attached as non-exhaustiveexamples.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 are displayed respectively as side view, plan view andaxonometric projection of the surface of the holder, whereas FIG. 4shows a vertical section of the new cleaning cloth holder head.

The new cleaning cloth holder head comprises a triangular-shaped body(C) and connected rotating attachment (A1, A2, A3) for the handle.

The body (C) is shaped approximately triangular, in this equilateralexample.

Each side of the triangular-shaped body (C) has an indent (C1), which isgenerally positioned centrally.

A cloth holding device is positioned on the upper part of the body (C),close to the outer point of each part of the triangle (C2.

A circular-shaped seat (C3) is positioned—generally centrally—on theupper part of the body (C) and acts as a coupling device for therotating handle attachment (A1, A2, A3).

The rotating handle attachment (A1, A2, and A3) is connected to the body(C) via this circular-shaped seat (C3).

The attachment (A1, A2, and A3) comprises a handle coupling device (A1)and an attachment (A3) to the body (C) of the new cloth holder head,with the support of a hinged part (A2) between the coupling device (A1)and attachment (A3).

The attachment (A3) to the body (C), the handle coupling device (A1) andhinge parts (A2) comprise a universal joint.

The handle couple device (A1) is generally tube-shaped and designed toeither attach (slotted, or screwed in) the outer end of a handle at oneend (A1 a), with the opposite end (A1 b) designed to couple with thehinged part (A2).

The attachment (A3) to the body (C) of the new cloth holder headcomprises a part (A3 b) which couples with the hinged part (A2) and theopposing part (A3 a), which couples with the body (C) of the newcleaning cloth holder head.

The attachment (A3) comprises slot-in or arrow-indicated couplingdevices (A3 a) in order to be inserted in the upper round-shaped seat(C3) of the body (C) and maintain the body (C) attachment (A1, A2, A3),thereby allowing rotation between the attachment (A1, A2, A3) and thebody (C) on an axis primarily orthogonal to the lower cleaning clothsupport surface and the body (C).

The new cleaning cloth holder head for floor cleaning has a number ofclear advantages.

The new cleaning cloth holder head is able to modify its orientationwhen moving forwards in order to avoid potential obstacles, walls orskirting boards without the user needing to rotate the handle. Wheneverthe holder meets standing obstacles such as furniture, the body (C)rotates on the attachment (A1, A2, A3) and allows it to move around theobstacle without the user having to turn the handle or carry outspecific awkward or inconvenient operations.

The new cleaning cloth holder head allows users to clean aroundsmall-sized individual obstacles without the user needing to rotate thehandle. The user need only direct the cleaning cloth holder head aroundthe object and body of the holder head (C) rotates according to theattachment (A1, A2, A3) and modifies its position according to the shapeand form of the obstacle encountered.

Where small-sized obstacles are concerned, such as table legs, the usercan direct the cleaning cloth holder head around the obstacle with oneof the indents (C1) on one of the three sides resting on the surface ofthe object involved.

When the new cleaning cloth holder head encounters an uninterruptedlinear obstacle, such as a wall, it rotates automatically until anappropriate side of the device lies flat against the linear obstacle orwall in order to allow users to clean the floor up to the wall oruninterrupted obstacle encountered.

When the new cleaning cloth holder head is moved along a wall as far asa corner and adjacent wall, users need only push the head of the clothholder up to the corner and then push it on to the adjacent wall. Thecloth holder head immediately rotates with the support of the adjacentwall without the user having to turn the handle.

The aforementioned general guidelines and principles are sufficient forexperts in the field to develop an application along the lines of theinstructions given, which can be adapted to existing devices withoutcompromising this innovative original concept.

Therefore, the following claims are made, based on the aforementioneddescription and enclosed technical drawings.

1. A cleaning cloth holder head with body as support frame for the clothand upper handle attachment, characterised by the fact that the body hasa triangular-shaped form with indents on one or more of the sides, andwhere the upper surface of the body comprises one or more fasteningdevices for the cleaning cloth.
 2. The cleaning cloth holder head, as inclaim 1, is characterised by the fact that the indentations positionedto the sides of the triangular-shaped device are curved.
 3. The cleaningcloth holder head, as in claim 2 are characterised by the fact that theupper section of the body comprises a round-shaped seat to attach thehandle connecting device and the lower part of the handle connectingdevice comprises slot-in or arrow-indicated coupling devices in order tobe inserted in the upper round-shaped seat of the body and maintain thebody attachment, thereby allowing rotation between the attachment andthe body on an axis primarily orthogonal to the lower cleaning clothsupport surface and the body.
 4. The cleaning cloth holder head, asdescribed in claim 3, is characterised by the fact that the round-shapedseat on the upper section of the body has a central position in thetriangular-shaped part.
 5. The cleaning cloth holder head, as describedin claim 3, is characterised by the fact that the attachment comprises ahandle coupling device and an attachment to the body of the new clothholder head, with the support of a hinged part between the couplingdevice and attachment in order to create a universal joint.